Earning Calories With Exercise??

jcosentino03
jcosentino03 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
Should I not be relying on exercise to earn me more calories? At this moment, I'm going over my calorie goal because I'm earning more with exercise. Is that the right thing to do? Or no matter what the exercise should I stick to that calorie goal?
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Replies

  • corwinwilkins
    corwinwilkins Posts: 1 Member
    It's what I do. I'm on 1700/day allowance and when I hike I regularly burn 3-4K. I like being negative at the end of each day. It just accelerates your losing.
  • SimoneBee12
    SimoneBee12 Posts: 268 Member
    edited June 2015
    It really depends on a lot of things, most importantly, how accurately you're logging your calories and exercise. Can you give us more information about yourself? Height, age, weight, current calorie goals, the amount of exercise you're doing, how you are calculating calories burnt. All of that.

    I eat some of my calories, but not most of them because I'm simply not hungry. If you are super hungry all the time, maybe you original calorie goal is too low. I know a lot of people on here eat about 50% of their exercise calories, which is fair, because it definitely would make people hungry. Its really about making sure you are getting enough fat and protein to stay healthy.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I'm just going to drop this link here, because I think it's a really good explanation of why the exercise calories are there: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
    I eat back about half of my exercise calories most days. But you have to be careful, MFP seems to over estimate calrie burns. And, unless you are meticulous with weighing/measuring your food it is just as easy to under estimate your daily intake of calories. Ultimately your scale will tell you when you have the correct formula.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    I only eat back about a third, because I don't really trust the numbers for the burns, but yes. I eat them back. That's the way MFP is designed to work.

    This applies only if you're strictly using MFP to generate everything, including your calorie intake and manually entering your calorie burns. Things like fitbits and using external TDEE calculators make this a complicated question.
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  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,255 Member
    Some days I eat ALL of my exercise calories back. But my daily goal is only 1300 calories, so even if MFP's calorie burns are too high and I'm eating too much by eating all of my exercise calories back I'm still at a deficit, especially for the week. If my exercise is an hour of high intensity boot camp or 5 hours of hiking in the mountains I don't eat all of those calories back. If I'm just walking for an hour, yeah, I'll eat all of those back. Have lost a pound a week for the last 4 weeks.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    asflatasapancake wrote: »
    The rule of thumb around here seems to eat back around 50% of your exercise calories. That's not a set in stone rule or anything. I eat nearly all mine back. Some people eat less than that. You might have to play around with it a bit to find the right mix for your body. The exercise calorie amounts, that is.

    Me too. My casual observation is that men are more likely to eat all of the exercise calories than women. I won't speculate on possible causes.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Calorie deficit = Calories Burned - Calories Consumed.

    If you increase your calories burned by a certain amount, you can increase your calories consumed by the same amount and still get the exact same calorie deficit, so you're still on track with your plan.

  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    i eat my exercise calories back. every. single. one. lost 100 pounds. Remember, everything is estimation +/-
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    What are your goals?

    I eat back the protein and eat some of the carbs depending on how I'm feeling and if I have a longer/more difficult workout ahead, but operate with a good deal of padding between CI and CO. Typically overestimate my CI and underestimate my CO to compensate of errors.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    I try not to eat mine back during the week. I like to "bank" them for the weekend. But yes, ultimately, I generally eat them back.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    If you are calculating your exercise calories correctly, you should eat all of them, so your calorie deficit stays constant. Many people eat about half because many of the tools that calculate calorie burns are overly optimistic and include BMR in the number it spits out. Since MFP is already accounting for BMR, BMR should not be included.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    jcosentino03 wrote: »
    Should I not be relying on exercise to earn me more calories? At this moment, I'm going over my calorie goal because I'm earning more with exercise. Is that the right thing to do? Or no matter what the exercise should I stick to that calorie goal?

    well, suffice it to say when you move more you burn more...so if you have otherwise not accounted for exercise calories, it would make perfect sense to "earn" more calories with exercise...you are going beyond what you told the calculator was your activity level by doing more....

  • ihad
    ihad Posts: 7,463 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    I'm just going to drop this link here, because I think it's a really good explanation of why the exercise calories are there: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf

    That is an excellent reference. This may provide some helpful perspective too:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ihad/view/mfp-101-logging-exercise-734937
  • numinousnymph
    numinousnymph Posts: 249 Member
    corwinwilkins wrote: »
    It's what I do. I'm on 1700/day allowance and when I hike I regularly burn 3-4K. I like being negative at the end of each day. It just accelerates your losing.

    how long and how strenuous of a hike is it to burn that many calories? :open_mouth:
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    corwinwilkins wrote: »
    It's what I do. I'm on 1700/day allowance and when I hike I regularly burn 3-4K. I like being negative at the end of each day. It just accelerates your losing.

    Losing more than just fat as well...you will run out of gas soon enough if you are truly burning all those calories...even a fraction like half and you will find yourself tired, lethargic and in about 5 months...malnourished with thinning nails and brittle hair...

    and yah how long do you hike and how much are you carrying for those burns...wow
  • princessbride42
    princessbride42 Posts: 67 Member
    I eat them all back. I use a heart rate monitor to count them. If I don't plan to eat them back for some reason, like I overate the day before or something, I either log them on a previous day or don't log them at all. For me its hard to leave calories uneaten.
  • deltayork
    deltayork Posts: 71 Member
    I will eat a few back, but not all. It really depends on the intensity of exercise for me. If it's a regular workout where i burn 400 or so calories I don't eat them back. But, If i'm doing Les Mills Grit (HIIT workout) and a double session, I'll definitely eat more (mostly extra carb for enegery before workout and protein after for recovery).
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,979 Member
    If I didn't eat mine back I would never get that deadlift off the ground.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    edited June 2015
    Hiking can burn a lot of calories, depending on many factors.

    At Philmont Scout Ranch they provide about 5000 calories per day per person. Attendees are carrying 40-50 pound packs, hiking 5-10 miles per day through steep climbs at elevations mostly about 9000 feet, and are mostly young males with high calorie requirements anyway.

    A rough estimate says that the average participant is burning maybe 2000-3000 calories per day hiking in these conditions.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Hiking can burn a lot of calories, depending on many factors.

    At Philmont Scout Ranch they provide about 5000 calories per day per person. Attendees are carrying 40-50 pound packs, hiking 5-10 miles per day through steep climbs at elevations mostly about 9000 feet, and are mostly young males with high calorie requirements anyway.

    A rough estimate says that the average participant is burning maybe 2000-3000 calories per day hiking in these conditions.

    I am aware of the burns I am ex military we did a lot of ruck sack marches...just asking durations etc.
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    I just bought a Polar FT7 HRM yesterday and I'm so glad I did. Apparently it's easy for me to burn 1800+ calories cycling for 2 hours on a route with a lot of hills (20 mile ride). I should be able to just listen to my body and eat delicious food now with plenty of calories to spare.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Hiking can burn a lot of calories, depending on many factors.

    At Philmont Scout Ranch they provide about 5000 calories per day per person. Attendees are carrying 40-50 pound packs, hiking 5-10 miles per day through steep climbs at elevations mostly about 9000 feet, and are mostly young males with high calorie requirements anyway.

    A rough estimate says that the average participant is burning maybe 2000-3000 calories per day hiking in these conditions.

    I am aware of the burns I am ex military we did a lot of ruck sack marches...just asking durations etc.

    I figured you were aware; I was also curious about the poster's claims. Sorry for the ambiguity.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    corwinwilkins wrote: »
    It's what I do. I'm on 1700/day allowance and when I hike I regularly burn 3-4K. I like being negative at the end of each day. It just accelerates your losing.

    Losing more than just fat as well...you will run out of gas soon enough if you are truly burning all those calories...even a fraction like half and you will find yourself tired, lethargic and in about 5 months...malnourished with thinning nails and brittle hair...

    and yah how long do you hike and how much are you carrying for those burns...wow

    Wait....wut?

    Aim to be negative at the end of each day?
    I'm on 1700/day allowance and when I hike I regularly burn 3-4K

    Aim for -1300 to -2300 calories these days?

    Yep, that's healthy.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
    Yes! I rely on exercise to earn more calories every day! I actually enjoy the challenge and always eat back at least some of those calories. Exactly how much varies. If I run 5 miles, I will probabyl eat a good portion back. If I earning exercise calories through many easy walks peppered throughout the day I don't really need the fuel, but will eat back just depending on how hungry I am.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I exercise more so I can eat more but am not hungry enough to eat them all back - I usually leave several hundred on the table each day.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member

    jaga13 wrote: »
    Yes! I rely on exercise to earn more calories every day! I actually enjoy the challenge and always eat back at least some of those calories. Exactly how much varies. If I run 5 miles, I will probabyl eat a good portion back. If I earning exercise calories through many easy walks peppered throughout the day I don't really need the fuel, but will eat back just depending on how hungry I am.

    This strategy works for me as well.

  • fad_sin26
    fad_sin26 Posts: 7 Member
    DO NOT LOG EXERCISE! It will just give you more of a reason to eat more. Not sure why this app even offers that because they ask you what your activity level is. Just my suggestion. ;)
  • fad_sin26
    fad_sin26 Posts: 7 Member
    Don't exercise for food! Exercise for your goal!
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